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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 3:20 a.m. MDT

  • CENSUS-NEW MEXICO

US Census Bureau director to visit New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The head of the U.S. Census Bureau will be in New Mexico this week.
U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich say Steven Dillingham will be in the state for a series of meetings and visits centered on the importance of ensuring an accurate count for the upcoming 2020 Census.
The senators earlier this year extended an invitation to Dillingham. They wanted to highlight the state's unique data collection challenges and discuss ways to count underrepresented communities.
They say when communities are undercounted, they receive fewer federal resources.
Dillingham is scheduled Tuesday to tour the border communities of Sunland Park and Chaparral before heading to Valencia County.
The senators also will convene a number of round-table meetings Wednesday at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.

  • OBIT-MURRAY GELL-MAN

Nobel-winning physicist Murray Gell-Man dies at 89SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Murray Gell-Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who brought order to the universe by helping discover and classify subatomic particles, has died at the age of 89.
Gell-Mann died Friday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His death was confirmed by the Santa Fe Institute, where he held the title of distinguished fellow, and the California Institute of Technology, where he taught for decades. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Gell-Mann transformed physics by devising a method for sorting subatomic particles into simple groups of eight — based on electric charge, spin and other characteristics.
He also developed the theory of "quarks," indivisible components of matter that make up protons, neutrons and other particles.
Cal Tech professor Fiona Harrison called Gell-Mann one of the great theoretical physicists of his time.

  • FATAL BUSH CRASH-LAWSUIT

Colorado man files negligence suit in New Mexico bus crash(Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com)
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Colorado man who survived a bus crash in New Mexico that killed three people including his wife last July has filed a lawsuit.
Ramon Grajeda-Beltran and Olga Hernandez-Beltran of Rocky Ford were passengers on a commercial bus traveling from Denver to El Paso, Texas that overturned after colliding with a car and then was struck by a tractor-trailer.
Hernandez-Beltran was one of three women killed in the crash on Interstate 25 north of Bernalillo. Grajeda-Beltran was among 22 injured passengers.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Grajeda-Beltran's lawsuit filed this week in state District Court in Santa Fe accuses the drivers of negligence.
It also alleges a lack of seat belts in the bus was a contributing factor in the death of his wife of more than 38 years.
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  • MINI ALCOHOL BOTTLE BAN

New Mexico city eyes banning miniature liquor bottles(Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A northwestern New Mexico city is examining if it can ban the sale of miniature liquor bottles littering the grounds across town.
The Farmington Daily Times reports Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett recently asked City Attorney Jennifer Breakell to investigate if the city could pass an ordinance banning the small liquor bottles.
Duckett made the request during the May 14 City Council meeting. That request came after a Farmington resident showed up at a City Council meeting with a bag full of miniature liquor bottles he had picked up while walking near Ladera Elementary School.
New Mexico Petroleum Marketers Association state executive Ruben Baca says banning miniature liquor bottles from being sold would likely be a hard battle for the city to win.
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  • SECOND CHANCE ACT

North Carolina moves to help offenders clear their recordsRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — More people in North Carolina could soon qualify to have their criminal records wiped clean, thanks to a bipartisan bill loosening the requirements.
Offenders with multiple nonviolent misdemeanor or low level felony convictions would be eligible to have their records expunged, regardless of age. The bill also expands expunctions for misdemeanors and minor felonies committed by 16- and 17-year olds. Currently, only nonviolent, first-time convictions are eligible.
"The Second Chance Act," introduced by Democratic Sen. Floyd McKissick of Durham County, recently passed the state Senate and now goes to the House. It comes two years after North Carolina raised the age for automatic prosecution as an adult to 18 and about four months after President Donald Trump signed bipartisan legislation focusing on criminal justice reform and lowering recidivism rates.

  • ALBUQUERQUE WRECK-TWO KILLED

Albuquerque police: 2 killed, 1 injured in 2-car wreckALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Police say two people were killed and a third injured in a two-car wreck Friday night in northeast Albuquerque.
Officer Simon Drobik says those killed were rear-seat passengers in a car that collided with a car making a left turn from Alameda Boulevard onto Pan American Freeway.
Drobik says one of the drivers was injured and transported to a hospital in stable condition.
Cause of the crash was under investigation but Drobik says the driver of the car carrying the two people who were killed showed signs of impairment.
No identities were released.

  • CATTLE KILLING PLANTS

Toxic plants suspected of killing cows in Four Corners(Information from: Gallup Independent, http://www.gallupindependent.com)
SHIPROCK, N.M. (AP) — Ranchers in northwestern New Mexico suspect toxic plants are responsible for the recent deaths of more than a dozen cows.
The Gallup Independent reports at least 15 cows from different herds in the Shiprock area have died of a mysterious illness in the past three weeks. And ranchers say the purple plant known as the tall mountain larkspur is the likely cause.
The plant is growing in abundance on the range thanks to unusually wet weather. It is used in Navajo and Hopi religious ceremonies and as after-birth wash.
Navajo botanist and geologist Arnold Clifford says the plant is toxic to cows because of its high concentrations of alkaloid.
He says because the Shiprock range is nearly devoid of forage, cattle tend to supplement their diet with any plant species just to fill their stomachs.
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